Indeed, U.S.A. is not America!
America is the name of a whole continent. United States of America means that the United States belongs to America and NOT that America belongs to the United States. So, next time you want to refer to The United States of America, you can do it as U.S. or the States or whatever you want but not as only America. Gotcha?
How should I use the term America then?
Here we will show you some wrong and correct uses of the term America:
This is how we do it in America.
This is how we do it in the States.
- America is my country and I love it.
- The United States is my country and I love it.
- America lost the Vietnam war.
- U.S.A. lost the Vietnam war.
- Here in America we love Mc Donald's.
- Here in the U.S. we love Mc Donald's.
Please, note that this page in not about demonyms (gentilics) but about the way to call a country.
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Comments (1251)
When the Europeans were coming to America, before the U.S. was even a country, they were coming to the continent, the new world and they would say I am going to America. Now, these people could have been talking about new Spain, Viceroyalty of Peru, or the British Colonies. Perhaps that is why they continue calling it America, out of repetition and tradition.
Yes. ‘America’ has multiple meanings in many languages. Thanks, Mrs. Obvious.
Not when its picked up by others to change its meaning to mean something else when the word/name was already meant for the same place the country is in. You can't deny that there is a conflict there! But you also can't deny that the conflict was solved by the English language by dividing the continent into two and call it Americas so that the name America could be used by the USA without conflict. However, not everyone in the world buys this swiftly move.
The Colonies began in a continent called America. Everyone knew it was a continent not a country. So the name America existed before there was even a country. Fact! Check it out!
Who is denying this? Your Straw man arguments are among your many logical fallacies.
When you expose your only defense argument about words having different meanings you are digging yourself into a ditch. You can not deny that the original meaning and only meaning for America is to name a continent. That people in other continents way back before there was a USA/country would sail to America the continent and it did not mean only to the north eastern part of the continent but also to the southern parts like Peru etc. You probably don't have this in your memory since people here only study what they are given to study leaving a lot of history on the shelves. No meaning is made up by the word, the people push the meaning of a word or name, this is why this whole move about getting rid of the continent of America so that there is no conflict between the continent and the U.S and then the U.S. can adapt the name America without having a conflict. Nothing to do with words having different meanings in different languages. NOTHING!
The meanings of words have nothing to do with language? The different meanings of words between different languages has nothing to do with language? It is amazing how little you know, and how desperately and unsuccessfully you pretend to be knowledgeable. Stick to what you have the mental ability to comprehend: reality TV and soap operas.
The 13 Colonies, etc that later merged into The "United States" that obviously are in "America" (not in Asia or Africa) lacks a proper name (proper names are unique names of something, not a composition just like "United Kingdom"got it?).
When those colonies were fighting each other they were a mess just like any other country back in the days everything was a mess.
Please bear in mind that I am not being disrespectful towards The United States of America.
Since I was a little kid (yes 7 or 8 years old) this topic was a discussion every time we talked about Geology.
I understand that by the time, the United States of America were not united and to avoid indifferences that name was the best fit.
I do not feel any hate or ignorance when someone from the USA says "I am American", it is the name of your country and say it OUT LOUD WITH PROUD!.
I am Hispanic not from USA, and I am also a proud American!, so no hate towards me neither.
The United States of America isn’t a proper and unique name for a country? Tell me, which other country has that exact same name? Please research and think before posting. Thanks.
Not other country has it because they did not copied the continent's name like the U.S. did! They got real names instead of just the geological land they were in. The name America existed before the U.S. was even a country and you know it.
Of course I know it. Unlike you, I don’t deny obvious facts.
Help here...what obvious facts do I deny? Oh, and words changing their meaning is associated more with what I have been saying that what you have been defending.
This appears to be another attempt at snowflaking and finding a reason to inject PC culture. The reason for calling the US "America" is extremely simple. Look at any other country in the Americas, they all have an appropriate name, LITERALLY. Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, etc. The United States is exactly that, a description of the United States of America. I guess we should go back to the constitution and rename the country then? The name of USA is America and living here in a state makes you a citizen in a state which is a part of the UNITED STATES of America. Calling us United Statesian is completely wrong because it's a descriptor of America.
I understand there are other countries in the Americas but each have their own rooted names. Our founding fathers decided to call us United States of America. Unless you have beef with them or want to change our constitution, if you're from the USA, you're American.
This is one of those hispanic things that rub us the wrong way. We want to pretend that we are equal to the United States, I get it. We need to be honest with ourselves and let it go. The United States is better than any country in the Americas, but our pride for where we were born don't allow this to sink in. If you stop any one person waking down the street in Paris and ask them "what do you think of America", I guarantee they will not think of Guatemala, they will think of the United States.
that ‘America’ cannot mean the USA.
And, yes, I am well aware of what the RAE says about using ‘América’ IN SPANISH to refer to the USA. They consider it “abusivo” to do so IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE. Unfortunately for the RAE and the pseudo-pedants on this site, the RAE doesn’t control the Spanish language. They can document, research, publish, criticize, recommend, advise, etc., but they are not the final judge who determines what is “right” and what is “wrong”. The Spanish language existed long before the RAE, and the language doesn’t need the RAE in order to exist. Some Spanish-speakers use ‘América’ to refer to the USA even though the RAE disapproves. The RAE cannot stop them. It’s the speakers of a language who are in charge. It’s how they use words that gives them their meanings.
The Earth’s land is most commonly divided into 4, 5, 6, or 7 continents. None of these conceptions is the “right” or “correct” one. None is superior to any other. They are simply different. None is “wrong”.
The conception you grew up with and prefer doesn’t just so happen to be the “correct” one simply because it was what you learned as a kid. Your preferences don’t matter. Your preferences don’t determine what is right and wrong. Your preferences don’t dictate how other people speak and what they mean when they use certain words. The supposed “rules” of your language don’t dictate how other languages are used.
America is just an abbreviation of the United States of America. Get over it.
The word ‘America’ has multiple meanings in many languages. This isn’t just a question of how the word is used in English. Billions of people all over the world, who speak many different languages, use ‘America’ to refer to the USA and ‘American’ to refer to US citizens. This is simply a fact. The completely delusional actually claim that people don’t use the words this way. The slightly less delusional accept this obvious reality, but then claim that it is somehow incorrect, ungrammatical or illogical to use the words in this way. Some also claim that the words don’t actually have these meanings. They seem to honestly believe that they, or the way that other languages are sometimes spoken, determine what is correct and incorrect in English and other languages. There are no rules in English or any other language that say that ‘America’ cannot mean the USA.
tell me what other country is called America. None
South American countries have names like Chile or Brazil.
People all over the world refer to us as America. They are in no way confused as to what country they are talking about. WE are Americans from America. Get the hell over it!